This year, to the delight of deconstruction and reuse enthusiasts, the Chicago-based nonprofit, Building Materials Reuse Association (BRMA), hosted their annual conference in Portland, Oregon—the first city in the nation to pass a deconstruction ordinance. People from around the globe gathered at the Smith Memorial at Portland State University for the two-day conference with "several presentations [...] relat[ing] to the recent development of a Portland city ordinance requiring deconstruction and salvage of materials during [the] removal of pre-1917 homes" discussing, "the development of the ordinance, the economics of deconstruction in Portland, growth of new deconstruction operations and reuse stores, and BMRA training of contractors and deconstruction workers."

The ReBuilding Center played host to the opening reception where attendees got to sample our special release Lumber Lager from Stormbreaker Brewing.

There were eight awards presented at the DeCon+Reuse’17 closing reception at EcoTrust and the ReBuilding Center was proud to receive two of those honors! Read how the BMRA recognizes our team for innovation and equity in the field:

Award for Excellence in Innovation in the Fields of Deconstruction and Building Material Reuse

Doug has led the ReBuilding Center’s Deconstruction Services for the last 9 years. What is really remarkable is that Doug has done it all essentially by himself. He started at the ReBuilding Center as the Great Recession hit - and as a result, he has been manager, assistant manager, sales manager, and chief bottle washer almost since the day he was hired. He has built extraordinary relationships across the City and has helped to ease the pathway forward for deconstruction amongst developers who hold Doug in such high regard.

Award for Advancing Equity in the Field of Deconstruction and Building Materials Reuse

Stephen Reichard and the ReBuilding Center are being recognized for their organizations multi-faceted commitment to creating equity. Since their beginning nearly 20 years ago, the ReBuilding Center has always been about building community in North and Northeast Portland. Stephens background in social justice helped the organization double down its commitment to equity and building community

This takes many forms, including:

From stuff like making free building materials available to hundreds of community projects each year

Recruiting staff and board members that increase the diversity of the ReBuilding Center

Providing Organizational support to other grassroots groups: Such as the Black Williams project and The North/Northeast STEAM Coalition which both benefit African American communities in Portland’s North/Northeast Corridor. And The Village Coalition which represents Portland’s houseless community, helping them organize to be able to better advocate for safe camps.

A short workforce development story: Stephen saw a need to provide stipends for the deconstruction workforce skills training participants. It was asking a lot for many of the students to take part in a two and a half week class with no paycheck coming in. Stephen successfully lobbied Metro and Portland PBS to chip in to provide stipends to the students to help out with child care, transportation, and living expenses. That helped students stay focused on the class and be more successful.

2017 BMRA Awards

2017 BMRA Award for Excellence in Innovation in the Fields of Deconstruction and Building Material ReuseDer Lovett, Lovett Deconstruction

2017 BMRA Award for Excellence in Innovation in the Fields of Deconstruction and Building Material ReuseDouglas Lichter, ReBuilding Center